Politically correct vegetable

I say this as someone who likes broccoli. In fact, I’d put it in my Vegetable Top 5 with eggplant, tomato, swiss chard and green beans.

But favorite food? Please.

First of all, most people’s favorite foods are recipe-based: macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, pizza, some kind of casserole. Broccoli is too plain to be a favorite food. It could be an ingredient in favorite food, but it’s not special enough to be favorite on its own.

Second, favorite foods are often tied to favorite memories. I have a special fondness for squid cooked in tomato sauce, partly because I just like the way it tastes and partly because I associate it with Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s, where it was a traditional dish.

I suppose it’s possible that the Obama family celebrated with a platter of steamed broccoli on holidays when he was a child, but that would make them possibly the only family in the United States to do so.

Third, Obama in the past has declared other favorites: pizza, hamburgers and ribs, to name a few. Perhaps the setting – a healthy eating event for kids – influenced his broccoli declaration. When your wife’s cause is childhood obesity and you’re standing in front of impressionable kids, it’s problematic to endorse something rich in saturated fat.

Still, broccoli? At least embellish it a little: broccoli with garlic butter and almonds; roasted broccoli with sage and onions. Something that elevates it to the realm of credibility as a favorite food.

Asked the same favorite-food question, I’d have said pizza.

Pizza fulfills the favorite food preconditions: it takes some preparation and it tends to evoke happy memories. And lest Mrs. Obama get irked by the choice, the president could have noted that you can put many nutritious toppings on pizza. Even broccoli.